The Veteran's appeal is remanded for a new VA medical examination of her knees to assess the current condition and impairment in each knee, including detailed findings such as ranges of motion in active and passive motion, weight-bearing, and non-weight-bearing. The examiner should also address additional functional impairment due to pain, weakness, fatigability, or incoordination.
The deciding factor: The remand is necessary because the previous VA medical examination did not provide specific details on the range of motion in active and passive motion, as well as weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing. The examiner's opinion also indicated that a more specialized orthopedist with expertise in knee disorders should be involved for proper evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- chondromalacia patella
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 14, 2016
- Citation
- 1646866
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 1646866.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for chondromalacia patella, patellofemoral pain syndrome right is remanded due to a duty-to-assist error in the evaluation of his service-connected knee disability.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for left knee osteoarthritis, meniscal tear, and chondromalacia patella, finding that the Veteran's claim was not entitled to such a retroactive effective date due to lack of new and material evidence submitted within one year of the February 2015 rating decision.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right knee degenerative arthritis with chondromalacia patella with meniscal tear and right knee instability, finding that the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether these conditions began in service.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 10 percent for chondromalacia patella and left knee instability is denied, but he is granted service connection for coronary atherosclerosis due to presumed exposure to herbicide agents.
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